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IBM donates English-Arabic translation devices for use in Iraq

4 April 2007

The computer firm said the donation is
intended to augment human translators and to improve the safety of US and other
English-speaking workers in Iraq..

IBM says it will donate 1,000 two-way
automatic translation devices to support better communication between English
and Arabic speakers in Iraq. The donation includes 10,000 copies of software for
future use with the translation system, called the Multilingual Automatic Speech
Translator, or MASTOR.

In announcing the donation, IBM noted that just six of the 1,000 workers in the
US Embassy workers in Iraq are fluent in Arabic. The computer firm said the
donation is intended to augment human translators and to improve the safety of
US and other English-speaking workers in Iraq.

IBM Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Samuel J. Palmisano described the
donation in a letter to US President George W. Bush. "IBM employees returning
from service with the US military in Iraq have consistently emphasised two
points: the importance of communicating with the Iraqi people and the
operational challenges posed by the need to do so," Palmisano said in his
letter.

The MASTOR technology operates on different devices including PDAs, tablet PCs,
and laptop computers. Its development got underway in 2001 at the IBM Thomas J.
Watson Research Center and was supported by the Defense Advanced Research
Project Agency

US Military Testing IBM Speech Translation Technology

10/16/06

United States military personnel are
testing new voice, speech and translation technology from IBM to speak with
Iraqi locals in their own language. IBM's Multilingual Automatic
Speech-to-Speech Translator, or "MASTOR," is designed to take spoken input from
its users and convey the meaning of what is said in translated speech.

Cutting-edge voice, speech and translation
technology from IBM is getting a critical test from U.S. military personnel who
are using the system to speak with Iraqi locals in their own language.

The Multilingual Automatic Speech-to-Speech Translator, or
"MASTOR," is activated by speaking and translates both from English to Arabic
and from Arabic to English, sounding out its translation instantly in audible
speech.

Interpreters Scarce

The U.S. Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) is addressing a
shortage of military linguists and putting the technology from IBM Research to
work in the field. The software is compatible with PCs, laptops, tablet
computers and personal digital assistants.

The U.S. will deploy the speech-to-speech translation system
in Iraq on 35 ruggedized laptop computers for the Army Medical Department,
Special Operations Command, the Marines and other Department of Defense units.

"Our goal is to enable units operating in areas where human
interpreters are scarce to communicate effectively with speakers of different
languages in real-world tactical situations," said U.S. Joint Forces
Capabilities Division Branch Chief Wayne Richards.

More Meaning

Executives behind the new MASTOR technology compared it to
other translation solutions that rely on preprogrammed, fixed phrases,
indicating the IBM software "offers the ability to have a free-form conversation
without having to memorize any predetermined phrases."

MASTOR is designed to take spoken input from its users and
convey the meaning of what is said in translated language, which initially
includes Iraqi Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic and Mandarin Chinese.

"The military's use of the MASTOR system is a very exciting
example of that capability -- one where we see the potential to improve the
safety of U.S. Service personnel and save lives," said IBM U.S. Federal Managing
Director Anne Altman.

The technology represents a significant leap in translation
and communication systems, according to BASEX Chief Analyst and CEO Jonathan
Spira, who has yet to view a demonstration of the project.

"MASTOR promises free-form conversation, which is how people
actually speak," Spira said. "This is a huge advance in technology compared to
systems which only can handle predefined phrases."

MASTOR, like human translators, overlooks minor errors, he
noted.

Bridging the Gap

Rather than relying on a specific device, MASTOR was designed
and optimized for multiple platforms and runs on Windows XP, Windows CE, Linux
and Embedded Linux, IBM Research Manager for Speech Recognition and
Understanding Yuqing Gao related.

The technology's potential is broad. It can be incorporated
in a variety of different software applications and adapted for other languages,
which IBM is already planning to do, she said.

For U.S. military personnel in Iraq, MASTOR has been tuned
not only for medical, infrastructure and other communications, but also to avoid
conflict, according to Gao.

"A lot of conflict is caused by language barriers," she said.
"We're trying to overcome that."